Counsel’s Explanation of NPE Business Model to Jury Not Improper

The court denied defendant's motion for a new trial and rejected its argument that plaintiff's counsel engaged in improper conduct that confused the jury in a trial that bifurcated liability from damages. "[Defendant] avers that [plaintiff's] counsel improperly referred to alleged damages 'throughout trial.' . . . [Defendant] submits that [plaintiff]'s closing argument . . . violated the court's bifurcation of liability and damages and invited jury confusion.. . . The court does not find that [plaintiff's] alleged misstatements were directed at the issue of damages. Rather, they were used to explain what [plaintiff] does as a non-practicing entity. [Plaintiff's] desire to note that patents can be used to recover investment costs was understandable in light of [defendant's] statements to the jury that it has thousands of patents and that '[defendant] and other good companies . . . develop information, develop technology, get together and exchange it in [patent] pools. . . .' The court does not find that [plaintiff's] closing argument resulted in a miscarriage of justice that would warrant a new trial."

MobileMedia Ideas LLC v. Apple Inc., 1-10-cv-00258 (DED September 5, 2013, Order) (Robinson, J.).